Southern Utah leaders work with national company to include minorities at state and national parks

Written by Stephanie DeGraw
April 22, 2023

ST. GEORGE — Traveling the country with a message of creating more unity in the outdoors brought the Black Folks Camp Too executive to Southern Utah recently. 

Earl B. Hunter, Jr. met with outdoor leaders to spread the message of inclusion of minorities in the great outdoors, St. George, Utah, unspecified date | Photo courtesy of Earl B. Hunter, Jr., St. George News

Earl B. Hunter, Jr. was the keynote speaker for the March 2023 State Park Conference in St George hosted by Utah Tech University. The Black Folks Camp Too owner also met with Zion National Park Superintendent Jeff Bradybaugh, Zion Forever CEO/President Natalie Britt, and their team.

Hunter was an executive in the outdoor industry in the RV industry, one of the only black executives in the $14 billion industry.

“I knew that many black folks who were not spending their dollars in this space and were not experienced in how amazing the outdoors is,” Hunter said. “And when you had two entities, people of color and the RV industry, which is an $880 billion industry, not being able to communicate with one another, then they’re probably going to miss one another. Right? And if they miss one another, they both miss the joys of seeing people experienced in the outdoors.”

Hunter began his company in 2019. Then the world experienced COVID and national events, such as the death of George Floyd while in police custody, caused nationwide social unrest. Hunter said the outdoors was one of the spaces people looked at when talking about equality. He left the RV industry to start Black Folks Camp Too due to the industry not understanding that many black Americans have not experienced the outdoors. 

“The campfire in our logo is the Unity Blaze, and it means to treat everyone, everywhere, equally,” Hunter said. “It’s the portal to amazing conversation; your race, age or gender does not matter. We all have something to say.”

While visiting Utah, Hunter also met with leaders from Zion National Park and the nonprofit Zion Forever Project.

Earl B Hunter, Jr. addresses the State Park Conference hosted by Utah Tech University, St. George, Utah, unspecified date | Photo courtesy of Wayne Wixom, St. George News

“Part of our mission at the Zion Forever Project includes ensuring that the parks remain accessible for everyone and that includes sharing these messages of diversity with our local communities,” Natalie Britt, President and CEO of Zion Forever Project, said. “We were so happy to have this event shared with the public and hosted at Utah Tech.” 

Hunter said it’s essential to get the message out that all minorities are welcome in the outdoors. During the event at Utah Tech University, he spoke with the superintendent of Zion National Park, the superintendent of Utah State Parks, state parks and land trusts and conservancies staff in Southern Utah.

“The outdoors is an important place for a lot of folk for healing, mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually, and everything else,” Hunter said. “You must make sure that everyone, particularly in America, understands that the outdoors is for them, that they’re invited and welcome.”

Black Folks Camp Too collected data from all over the United States. It found that many people of color have generational fear and trauma. Hunter said their ancestors saw “some of the most heinous things in the world that happen in the woods.” Because those things happened, most don’t view the outdoors as a place for relaxation. 

“So growing up the outdoors, camping wasn’t really a part of our DNA,” Hunter said. “Now we went fishing, maybe hunting and some farming but those things were for survival, not necessarily for relaxation.”

Another reason some minorities may not experience the outdoors is a lack of knowledge. Hunter’s company surveyed many black people from different backgrounds and economic levels. Most respondents didn’t know what a trailhead was, how to filter water, how to hike or camp. 

Hunter added that the outdoor industry also didn’t know how to invite minorities to enjoy the outdoors. His company coined the phrase “Return on Inclusion.”

He noted that black folks are probably some of the most athletic people in the world. Trail riding and mountain biking would seem like second nature to them. The three things that hold them back are; fear, lack of knowledge, and lack of invitation, Hunter stated.

But there are other races of folk who have probably experienced the same type, fear, lack of knowledge and lack of invitation. The difference is that people who identify as black were the only group in America with laws to keep us out of the outdoors. Many state national parks were segregated up until almost 1964.

To help increase understanding, his company logo features the unity Blaze and they host digital training. The trainings can be signed up for on his website and customized for campgrounds, retailers, manufacturers and RV dealers.

“We created all this to get these folks to buy into this space and understand why. So they can get to what, when and where and how,” Hunter said.

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2023, all rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Stephanie DeGraw is an award-winning journalist. For 25 years, she engaged in journalism, broadcasting and public relations. DeGraw worked for the Salt Lake Tribune, Associated Press and The City Journals. She was a reporter for a CBS television station in Twin Falls, Idaho. She graduated from Weber State University with a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism and Broadcasting.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @STGnews

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